Misbehaviour

Question
I have had my Dachshund Jack Russell cross for about nine
years now and have always thought of him as the greatest
dog I've ever owned. He always behaved, and was like a son
to me. I got married about a year ago, and he loved my
Wife, and never had a problem with her, even taking to her
like a mom. About a year ago my wife got pregnant and he
was a loving dog that nurtured her through the whole thing,
even when it turned out to be a miscarriage. Well my wife
got pregnant again and all of a sudden My little brat
started acting up, ripping her clothes and back pack to get
at chocolate and other human food. He does this so much now
I don't know what to do. Do you have any idea why he would
be doing this? and is there a way to stop it? I love the
little shit too much to get rid of him.

Answer
Hi Ken,

I think your dog was lulling you into a false sense of security, by not reacting to all the other changes you've introduced into his life!

Your dog has reacted the way he has because he's an animal, and animals do some crazy unpredictable things when there is stress in their lives. Maybe your dog senses more stress from you and your wife during this second pregnancy, so he's having a stronger reaction than he did last time. Any change in a dog routine... which can be anything from when he goes on walks, to changes in his mealtime can also spark a stress response.

If you feel you can't trust your dog not to be destructive when left alone or when he's unsupervised, then you need to crate him, or contain him to part of a "dog safe" room, during those times. Baby gates are very helpful for this. With a baby coming, you'll want to invest in a couple of baby gates, anyway!

Increase the amount of daily exercise your dog gets. The exercise will help to tire your dog, both mentally and physically, and may make him less responsive to the stressful things. In addition, exercise has the effect of increasing natural serotonin levels, which can act as a sedative. The exercise should be in the form of extra leashed walks, a good run in a park, or a game of fetch, etc. Letting a dog out into a fenced yard by himself does not count towards exercise. Pay more attention to your dog, work on simple obedience commands, and offer plenty of praise and rewards when he complies.

Now is the time to train your dog for when the baby arrives! You'll have far too much to do once the baby comes to try to train your dog then. Sadly, many dogs are given up when there is the addition of children in a family, because of the dog's unexpected behavior. It doesn't need to be that way, if you start training your dog well before the baby's arrival! Read more about this here:

http://www.albemarlefamily.com/vpage.htm?pageid=95

http://www.aussiepettags.com/babies_and_dogs_safety____by_chr.htm

http://hubpages.com/hub/Get_your_dog_ready_for_the_new_baby


Best of luck!
Patti